Zodiac Kingline Chronometer With Cal. 78

The Reference

The Zodiac brand has had a great resurgence in interest from the collector community in the last few years both surrounding new and vintage timepieces. Most of this interest has been focused on the classic and historic Sea Wolf, Olympos, and Astrographic model ranges. That being said, Zodiac made a lot of different types of watches and this Kingline with a hi-beat automatic chronometer movement is a great example of the brand expertise across their range. The Kingline was one of two dresser lines from Zodiac in the 60s and 70s, with the other being the Goldenline. It is not the name on the dial that makes this watch interesting but rather the hi-beat movement, a Zodiac Cal. 78, running at 36000 A/h hiding within. This movement was a joint development by Doxa, Eberhard, Favre-Leuba, Girard-Perregaux, and Zodiac and was used exclusively across their lineups. The movement itself was based on the hand-wound caliber AS 1687/1688 with the automatic module being the development of the group.

The Case and Bracelet

The 36mm stainless steel case is in great condition. It is highly original with all of the correct components and finishing throughout. The crown and caseback are both signed with the zodiac logo as is the clasp of the bracelet. Speaking of the bracelet this example wears its original NSA multilink bracelet that is in matching great condition.

The Dial and Hands

The vertically brushed grey/blue dial is fantastic and makes us want to see similar coloring on more watches. The highly subdivided second track gives a nod to the hi-beat high accuracy movement as do the simple hands that let the smooth tracking of the sweeping center seconds hand take the spotlight. Overall condition is excellent.

The Movement

This watch features an automatic Zodiac caliber 78 hi-beat movement. The watch is running and the service history is not known.

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